The present invention relates in general to stoves, and, more particularly, to wood burning stoves.
The wood burning stove has been in use for many years as a means for providing heat as well as a means for cooking, and the like. An early example of such a stove is the Franklin stove.
Recently, interest in wood burning stoves has increased, and such stoves are enjoying increasing popularity in homes, cabins, camps, cottages, or the like. As a result of this increased interest, wood burning stoves have improved over the Franklin stoves, and other such stoves.
Examples of such improvements can be found in stove burning efficiency, improvements in access to the stove, increases in the ease with which fuel is inserted into the stove, and the ease with which ash can be removed from the stove, improvements in stove aesthetic appearances, improvements in stove versatility, and so forth.
A stove incorporating many improvements is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,051,831, issued to E. P. Schellens, on Oct. 4, 1977. The Schellens stove is disclosed as being air-tight and thus is designed to control the amount of air available for the combustion process. The Schellens stove operates at subatmospheric pressure, which produces efficient fuel combustion and ash accumulation which is reduced from other stoves.
While representing an improvement over may other stoves, the Schellens stove still has several deficiencies. For example, even though measures are taken to prevent warping, the stove body disclosed by Schellens is still subject to warping during heating and cooling cycles, thereby raising the possibility that the air-tight nature of the stove may be vitiated. The Schellens stove has a firebox containing a U-shaped hearth plate and firebox liners arranged in a V-shaped configuration to have inwardly declining walls. Such a design makes manufacture and shipping difficult and expensive. It is also noted that the capacity of the stove is reduced by the V-shaped firebox inner volume in the Schellens device.
The walls of the Schellens stove are not supported in the vertical direction, and due to the temperature gradients developed during heating and cooling cycles of the stove, vertical warping of the stove walls is possible.
Accordingly, there is need for a stove which is easily manufactured and shipped, secure against warping, and easy to use while still making maximum use of the capacity thereof.